UK release date: March 19th 1990
Buy Shooting Party's album here (Amazon GB)
There are several things I know about Gary and Sprout (!), the two fellas who made up the duo of Shooting Party - they were the vibrant boy band twosome that were needed in the post-Wham! musical landscape of the late 80s; they preceded Big Fun and Yell! in premiering the PWL/Harding-Curnow archetype boy band sound that those groups would go on to have fleeting success with; their own lack of success wasn't for lack of trying (or quality of songs as this retrospective will show); and - had they had the chart success they deserved - their debut/only album would have been released about 30 years ago this week. Back in early 1990, Shooting Party already felt like Hit Factory royalty, having already performed with the likes of Sonia, Big Fun, Jason Donovan and Kylie on PWL roadshows, tours and, of course, The Hitman and Her television show. Despite their busy board-treading schedule, they seemed to only release one song per year - something that, at the time, was part super frustrating, part marketing genius as it made each release feel like a treasured momento. Perhaps it was the gap inbetween songs that hampered their inability to make the UK top 40; as soon as momentum started to built it would fade away again. When they were given one final marketing push in 1990 and (sadly) failed to launch, their album was shelved and Shooting Party was no more. Thankfully, the album got a digital release many years later and shows that they had plenty of potential left in them. A look back...
- Safe In The Arms Of Love (1988) ~ I wish I could say this was the first Shooting Party song that I bought; I didn't discover them until their next song but sought this out at a record fair shortly after I Go To Pieces was in my collection. Co-written by Gary with Ian Curnow (and production by Curnow and Phil Harding), their debut SAW-associated single was a sleek, pop-meets-dance affair with a chorus as indelible as magic marker. It was actually quite a sophisticated gem with a pulsing groove, electrifying synths and a narrative as compelling as any episode of Eastenders. What people miss about the Hit Factory is that they could actually be quite revolutionary on their releases, layering the score with different influences - and this exquisitely blended 80s synth with Patrick Cowley style hi-NRG whilst sounding equally at home next to the latest releases from Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys. Sadly it didn't chart but Roger (Sprout)'s vocal is one for the ages...
- I Go To Pieces (1989) ~ I'll admit; it was the cover art that attracted me to this song. I remember thinking that I would never look as cool in reflective shades! Those were the days that I would take a chance on songs I hadn't heard with hit or miss results. This was a total hit - I was instantly smitten with the song (another Gary-Ian co-write/Harding-Curnow production); not least because the music seemed as effortlessly iconic as the single cover. Also it seemed to soundtrack the emotions of my first crush at school in a way that I didn't know how to verbalise as eloquently as these chaps. As noted, I was so besotted with the track that I had to track down their earlier release (quite the task in those days without internet, etc). I was disappointed that it didn't make the charts (it stalled at 88) but that didn't stop it becoming (what I called) a hit in my head and I played the various mixes way after its shelf life in Woolworths had expired.
- Let's Hang On (1990) ~ I'd almost given up on Shooting Party releasing more music until I saw them gabbing away in Smash Hits circa March 1990. They seemed to love what they did ("we're not going to change the face of rock" I recall them proudly proclaiming) and, unlike the faux-scandal around Daniel from Yell's age actually leaned into the fact they were considered 'old' (28 and 30 - good lord), noting that Cliff Richard still had hits. Good for them - made me like them even more. It is not a surprise that they were back with a cover version - it had launched both Big Fun and Yell so this Pete Hammond production of the Four Seasons classic seemed to be their best shot at a chart smash. I actually knew the song best from Barry Manilow (my mum was a fanilow) and I rushed out to buy their perky, feel good version on the day it was released. It was cheery, sunny pop at a time when the charts were rejecting such fare so, despite that shoulder shimmying percussion and decadent keyboards, the song got no higher than 66. It is a real shame that there was no more after this, but for a brief time I was all in for Shooting Party (crushing hard on Mr Sprout) and telling all and sundry. It was a love that would endure for decades...
- Boys Cry (1990) ~ you can imagine my delight when a plethora of new Shooting Party songs materialised on the internet in 2009, including the album and whole array of single remixes. There had been whispers of a fourth single shortly after Let's Hang On faded from the charts and it is a testament to the enduring power of late 80s/early 90s pop (and Harding/Curnow's production) that Boys Cry sounded just as splendid all those years later as if I had nipped down to buy it nestled amongst the latest releases from Jesus Jones and Happy Mondays on the shelves of Our Price in 1990. Those delectable synths at the start seemed to be as ravishing as anything on Liza Minelli's Results album while the chorus demonstrated once again that Roger was a gifted, expressive vocalist who knew how to deliver a hook with emotion. Whilst originally written as an ode to the fact that blokes have feelings too when break-ups happen, it has taken on a new life with me as an anthem that promotes mental wellbeing and not having to "man up". Glorious song that should have been an enormous hit.
- Late Night Trade ~ imagine the audacity and gall if the clean cut lads of Shooting Party had released this salacious ode to a lady of the night. It would have been the most pleasing pop description of the world's oldest profession since Pet Shop Boys hit with rent. Alongside all the other songs on the album that are just screaming out for a single release (the Pete Hammond production/co-write of Show Me The Way To Your Heart would have been a corker despite being a b-side to Let's Hang On), this may not be the most obvious choice but it would have shown a different side to the guys. The sparse percussion against those gorgeous piano chords are just intoxicating, giving off just a frisson of danger that makes the song an exciting listen every single time.
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